June 11--Spectacular Bid, dead at 27 of a heart attack, left a sizable estate to his estranged son, William, 22, who by all accounts has led an underachieving, disappointing life.

Spectacular Bid won 26 of 30 races, earning more than $2 million in purses in a dominant career. He narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown in 1979 after falling short at the Belmont Stakes. Most experts believe that if not for a pre-race infection caused by a pin stuck in his hoof he would have won the race easily and instantly secured his deserved reputation as one of the greatest thoroughbreds of the Century.

In a codicil to his last will and testament, Spectacular Bid, sources report, named William the sole beneficiary of his assets which, through shrewd investing mainly in stock mutual funds and carefully selected high-yielding bond funds, he grew to more than $5 million.

"He was a smart, patient, aggressive investor," said Fred Banks, his Paine Webber financial consultant.

Why William, rather than any or all of the more than 70 offspring he sired since turning stud in 1982, we may never know.

"Bottom line, he was a great horse and a good friend," said Evander Holyfield, father of more children than Spectacular Bid.

William, cornered by reporters at Hyman Farm in Calvert, Kentucky, where he's lived quietly since 1992, could not comment on his inheritance, because he is a horse.